//------------------------------//
// Part 11: Twilight 
// Story: Amazing Alicorns 
// by Cardinal Dan Productions 
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Cadence had rushed over before the moonrise. Without time for a foalsitter, she thrusted Flurry Heart into Shining’s hooves and asked him to take care of her while she went on a ‘little trip’. This all happened a few short hours before her arrival in Canterlot, where Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Dulcet were waiting for her. It was a regular royal family reunion, but there wasn’t the time to waste on pleasantries.

Dulcet approached Twilight by the shattered window, and both looked out across Equestria below. “With every minute she spends on this world, Demise grows stronger. If we’re going to have a chance at sending her back to the island, it has to be done now.”

Twilight frowned and turned to look at her. “What then?”

The white princess raised an eyebrow at her: “What do you mean, Twilight?”

She shuffled her hooves against the tiled floor, silently searching for a way to put her thoughts into words. “I mean... What happens after we send her back? How will we know she’ll even resume her duty as the princess of time and fix all this?”

Dulcet’s gaze fell, and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t know... In the end, somepony will have to make things right.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what Dulcet meant by that, but she decided against pressing her. Looking back towards the throne, she could see that the others were ready. Cadence offered her a kind smile, but it vanished when she saw that Twilight was in no mood for idle talk. “I can see you’re upset, and I understand why. Aunt Luna has just told me about everything you’ve been through today.”

Twilight wasn’t prepared for the hug that followed, but she allowed herself to fall into Cadence’s embrace. “Thanks...”

The purple pony managed a weak smile as she pulled away.

Everypony had gathered around Dulcet at the base of the throne. “Demise is still out there, gathering her allies. We cannot wait on Prince Blaze to arrive with ours, so we are going to hit her tonight.” She raised a hoof, pointing towards the shattered window. “Somewhere in the Everfree Forest, she gathering her strength and planning her next move. We’ll catch her off guard and put Demise back in her place before time unravels and the world ceases to exist. Now, everypony stand close.”

They did as instructed and all met around Dulcet, circling around her while incidentally coming into close contact with each other. Five Alicorns locked their horns together. “Brace yourselves...”

Twilight clenched her teeth and closed her eyes as a feeling of unimaginable power pulsed through her with every breath. The light that came after simulated a star sitting in the center of the throne room, even through her shut eyelids.

When they opened again, Twilight stood in the middle of a dark forest. It didn’t smell quite like the ancient Everfree Forest, but it had to be. It certainly looked like it from where she was standing. The place was dark enough as it was, but at night, it was something else.

The thought of being along in the very place that she was terrified Twilight. She was relieved to have company, especially Dulcet. Twilight turned to face the white Alicorn, but she was nowhere in sight.

None of the other princesses were.

“Dulcet?” She turned in a circle. “Celestia? Luna?”

She spun around again and again. “Cadence?! Dulcet?! Celestia?! Luna?! Where are you?!”

Twilight’s heart twisted in her chest. She was lost, horribly lost and without her friends. “Wh-Wha... What could have happened? One minute, we were all together, and the next...”

A twig snapped behind her, and Twilight let out a yelp. Her horn ignited, glowing brightly and illuminating the immediate area. She could make out a sea of thick, moss-covered trees and rocks. “Who... Whose there?”

No response came, and Twilight began to back pedal, keeping her horn level all the while. Not looking where she was actually going, her hoof slipped on a wet rock and she began to tumble downhill. Through leaves, mud, and brandhes, Twilight fell onto the forest floor and rolled several times before coming to a sudden stop on the bank of a quiet stream. She let out a groan and flipped onto her side.

Every part of her body was in pain, and she had landed on one of her wings, bending it in the wrong direction. Twilight saw something glittering in front of her. It was the flower.

She reached for it and pulled it close, figuring it to have fallen from her mane during her misstep at the top of the hill.

Upon closer inspection, Twilight realized she hadn’t been imagining things. The flower really was glittering in the dark, glowing almost, a reaction she hadn’t ever seen since it was given to her. She picked it up and placed it back in her mane, atop her head like a crown.

Twilight then stood shakily and stared into the stream.

Under the cover of absulute darkness, she watched the water flow downward into the abyss. The most logical thing to do was to stay put and wait for her friends to find her.

“Dulcet will be looking for me...” Twilight turned and looked in the opposite direction, up the stream and towards a faint light. “I’ll wait for her there.”

She trotted through the trees, avoiding a gallop due to the pain in her beaten and battered legs. Twilight slashed her hoof through the trees and brush and stumbled into a clearing. The stream ended abruptly in a nearly dried pool at the edge of the clearing.

A violent crack had cut the clearing in two, and a dark red haze obscured her vision. Across the clearing, past the scar, was a cave. That’s where the light was emanating from. Twilight stumbled through the clearing, keeping her head low to avoid the dark mist.

Her eyes shifted back and forth between the cave and broken pool. Something about the place seemed awfully familiar, but she couldn’t put her hoof on it. Carefully, she stepped over the gaping crack in the ground and approached the cave, totally unaware of the eyes following her.


***Up Next: Demise (Ch. 4)***